Public-private partnership mode for operational services at major ports: FM

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said major ports will move from managing operational services on their own to a model where a private partner will operate it for them.

For the purpose, seven projects worth more than Rs 2,000 crore will be offered by the major ports on the public-private partnership mode in 2021-22, the finance minister said while presenting the Union Budget 2021.

To promote flagging of merchant ships in India, in her Budget Speech, Sitharaman also proposed to launch a subsidy support scheme of Rs 1,624 crore in global tenders floated by ministries and CPSEs over five years to Indian shipping companies.

She emphasised that this initiative would enable greater training and employment opportunities for Indian seafarers besides enhancing Indian companies’ share in global shipping.

India has 12 major ports – Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Kolkata (including Haldia) — under the control of the Centre.

These major ports handle about 60 per cent of the country’s total cargo traffic.